


How Could I Say No?

by Hadrian_Pendragons



Series: Yusentai [2]
Category: Dr. STONE (Anime), Dr. STONE (Manga)
Genre: Ace Senku Ishigami, Asexual Character, Confessions, F/M, M/M, Polyamory, i'm a mess, pure and utter fluff, takes place slightly before the day the light hits, these three own my entire life at this point ok, yusentai
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-17
Updated: 2019-08-17
Packaged: 2020-09-05 20:01:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,310
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20278987
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hadrian_Pendragons/pseuds/Hadrian_Pendragons
Summary: Taiju can never do things in halves. He certainly can never choose between those halves.





	How Could I Say No?

**Author's Note:**

> Pure and utter fluff, and Senku's completely oblivious for once. This is for you, mii-chqn!

“Hey, Senku… do you have anyone you like?”

Senku actually pauses in the midst of swirling the contents of a test tube. Taiju has to force himself not to shuffle nervously on the seat at one of the lab tables as Senku throws a small grin over his shoulder.

“What is this, gossip hour?” He asks, turning back to pour the contents of the test tube into another beaker.

Taiju can’t help the embarrassment, and his voice gets louder in reply, “I was just curious!”

Senku sighs through his smirk, sets down the beaker to pick up a pencil to scribble some notes, and explains, “Well, I’m asexual, meaning that I’m not sexually attracted to people. I don’t get crushes in the usual sense.”

Taiju blinked, running the words through his head once more. He’d never actually heard of that orientation before, but in hindsight, it made a lot of sense. Senku had never really shown that kind of interest in people like the rest of their classmates had, especially in middle school.

He was about to ask what kind of crushes Senku _did _get, when Senku pointed the pencil at him, “Is this about Yuzuriha?”

Taiju felt his cheeks heat up and avoided Senku’s eyes. Of course, Senku had guessed half of his problem.

“I still don’t see how it’s taken you five years to confess.”

“I can’t just come out and say it!” Taiju protests. “What if this makes things weird? I…” He glances down at the table, “I don’t want to lose a friend if I end up making her uncomfortable.”

Senku hums. A hand lands on the table in front of him, and Taiju looks up to meet red eyes, “Do you really think Yuzuriha’s the kind of friend to just drop you because you showed interest in her?”

Taiju really hopes Senku doesn’t think much of the blush he knows is on his face, “… well…” She wasn’t. Yuzuriha was a strong and kind person. If she really didn’t like him like that, she’d tell him, and that would be that. Taiju would learn to move on and their friendship would survive.

Senku grins, “See? Use some logic, Big Oaf.” He turns back to his experiment, and Taiju tries to cool the heat on his face.

His crush on Yuzuriha was, after all, _only _half his problem.

_Use some logic…_

Taiju nods to himself.

“Senku!” He says, before his nerves can stop him. He pauses when his voice echoes loudly in the room. “Do you think, uh, you can meet me in front of the school tomorrow afternoon?”

Senku turns a raised eyebrow on him, and Taiju can see the question on his face, but he doesn’t allow Senku to voice it. He meets his long time friend’s eyes, “Please. It’s important.”

Senku blinks once, then smiles, “Of course.”

* * *

“Senku?” Yuzuriha pauses under the camphor tree, spotting the tall-haired teen leaning against the opposite side. “Did Taiju ask you to come, too?”

She laughs at the frown he turns on her as he says entirely in jest, “I swear that big oaf better have a good reason for this.”

“I’m sure he does,” She smiles, glancing up at the rustling leaves overhead. “We’re under this tree, after all.”

Senku shrugs, conceding the point. This camphor tree in particular wasn’t important on its own, she knew -but Taiju always seemed to take pride in sharing a name with something as tall and steady as a camphor, even one as young as the one in the schoolyard. She might not know why, exactly, but it was one of the things she found endearing about him.

Senku’s eyes shift upward, and his frown turns a bit more genuine. Yuzuriha follows his gaze.

She spots the tree branch, barely within reach, splintered in the center at an odd angle that barely manages to keep it from buckling under its own weight.

She glances at Senku once more. He’s not the sentimental type, usually looking at his emotions through a logical lens. He’s not one to believe in omens.

Neither is she, really. This tree, though –this is the kind of tree that represents Taiju to them. To see it struggling is almost painful.

She reaches up before she’s really thought about it, untying the bow around her neck. She knows Senku’s watching her, but she deftly ties the fabric around the break, giving the splintered edges a bit more support to heal and grow.

“Now,” she says, turning to meet Senku’s eyes, “No matter what the problem, there’s always something we can do.”

Senku stares at her for a moment, but ultimately turns away with a huff, “The tree would’ve been fine on its own.”

She winks playfully and holds out a thumbs up, “But now it’s _one billion percent _guaranteed to be at its best!”

That actually brings a laugh out of him, and Yuzuriha counts it as a job well done.

* * *

“Senku! Yuzuriha!”

Taiju’s words carry across the whole school, and Senku rolls his eyes at the enthusiasm in his voice. He pushes off the tree to stand on his own, watching Taiju bound across the entire schoolyard and Yuzuriha greet him happily

Taiju’s shifting on his feet, though, and pressing his lips together in that nervous way he does. But it isn’t the bad kind of nervous, and he can’t for the life of him figure out what’s got Taiju on edge.

“So, what did you want to talk to us about, Taiju?” Yuzuriha asks. Taiju’s face goes red, and Senku wonders how much longer it’s going to be before he works up the nerve to confess.

“Well, um, there’s something I want to tell the both of you…” He trails off awkwardly, rubbing the back of his head.

Senku sighs, “Just spit it out, Big Oaf.”

Taiju presses his lips together tighter, gulps, takes an almost respectful step back and _bows._

“I’ve had… feelings for the both of you for a really long time now! I know this is a little awkward, but I’ve thought and thought, and choosing between you is impossible for me, so I wanted to ask if you’ll both go out with me!”

Senku’s mind blanks.

He vaguely acknowledges the way Taiju tenses as if for rejection, the way Yuzuriha’s face goes red as she waves her arms around erratically, entirely speechless.

The conversation they’d had yesterday comes back to mind, and with it, all the little things he’s never given much thought or attention to over the years, the little things from Taiju he’s only ever _let _himself see directed towards Yuzuriha.

And then his higher functioning catches up, and all he can only think _I’m a goddamn idiot _before he’s having to support himself on the camphor because he’s _laughing so hard._

And why wouldn’t he? He’s known about Taiju’s crush on Yuzuriha for years, but he’d never _once, _for all his brainpower, realized Taiju’s _other _crush on _him _and _he is such an idiot._

He belatedly realizes it probably isn’t the best thing to laugh at the man confessing to him, and he’s down to almost uncontrollable chuckling when Yuzuriha covers her face with her sleeves, takes a deep breath, and finally manages to string her words together, “I’ll -You’re both important to me, of course, I’d love to go out with both of you!”

Taiju lifts his head, elation in his eyes, and Senku sobers himself up quickly with a cough, catching both of their attention.

He _knows _there’s a wide grin on his face, but the two people he could never see himself living without have just declared their love right in front of him, and he can’t brush that away so easily. He’d _never._

He leans in and looks both of them in the eye. “How could I say no, when you two ask so earnestly?”


End file.
